Works on the City Gate ditch embellishment project, which were scheduled to be completed this month, have once again fallen behind, with no specific deadline set for the opening of the public garden there.
Instead, the Grand Harbour Regeneration Corporation, carrying out the project, would only say that access to this area of the capital would be restored “in a few weeks” and trees planted towards the end of the year.
Plans to convert the area from a car park to a garden go back almost a decade. In June 2009, the government unveiled a project designed by world-renowned architect Renzo Piano which incorporated a new entrance to Valletta, the open theatre, a new Parliament and the ditch.
While the rest materialised, the ditch garden was shelved soon after Labour was elected to govern in 2013 as part of a cost-cutting exercise. It was only in July 2016 that the project was revived, albeit with some modifications.
It was incorporated in the ‘Biskuttin’ embellishment, which included the pedestrianisation of the former bus terminus and the Tritons Fountain.
At the time, the government announced that the ditch would be ready by the start of this year, in time for the events related to the 2018 European Capital of Culture. However, this deadline was missed as works on this project ground to a halt.
Last January, GHRC CEO Gino Cauchi told The Sunday Times of Malta the inauguration had been postponed by six months due to emergency works on the reconstruction of a parapet wall which had become unstable.
Delay was due to natural winter elements and material supplies
Mr Cauchi added that works would immediately resume so that the garden would be opened to the public in July.
Yet an onsite visit by this newspaper revealed that even though considerable progress had been registered, the project was far from complete and most of it is still in shell form.
Asked if the July deadline would be met, GHRC chairperson and Labour MP Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi insisted works were progressing well. However, he acknowledged there had been a delay on the revised plan due to “natural elements during the past winter and others related to mat-erial supplies by contractors”.
His reply included no specific opening date.
“Access will be open in a few weeks’ time, while planting trees and plants (indigenous species) will be carried out during planting season in November. This is being done as envisaged by horticultural experts and the Environmental Landscape Consortium,” said Dr Zrinzo Azzopardi.
Under the revised plans, vehicular access through the ditch will be retained through a narrow lane on the side. The garden will take a thematic approach, with various zones focusing on different aspects of Valletta’s history.
Public access to the ditch garden will be by means of a staircase and a lift.
Meanwhile, the former Yellow Garage, which was originally part of the underground train station, is being converted into a fully fledged parliamentary library and archive.